Date: 1598

"Henceforth my wooing mind shall be expressed / In russet yeas, and honest kersey noes."

— Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)

Date: 1600

"I mean that my heart unto yours is knit, / So that but one heart we can make of it."

— Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)

Date: 1600

"I swear to thee by Cupid's strongest bow, / By his best arrow with the golden head, / By the simplicity of Venus' doves, / By that which knitteth souls and prospers loves, / And by that fire which burned the Carthage queen / When the false Trojan under sail was seen."

— Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)

Date: 1600

"Not to be married, / Not to knit my soul to an approvèd wanton."

— Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)

Date: 1656

"It is impossible, Lady, except you should alter the Fabrick of his mind, unbend its appetite, or give it new desires; for as long as the divine soul creating breath, is clad with different disposing matter, and cast in several moulds, there will be Wise and Fooles."

— Anonymous

Date: 1696

"The Sences in Confederacy raise Rebellion against reason; there now is a Civil War over all this Compound Tabernacle. Pride and Desire disturb the Harmony of Government, endeavouring to undermine the tottering Fabrick, and to hurl all into Chaos and Confusion."

— Anonymous; George Powell (1658-1714), Publisher

Date: April 18, 1721

"Oh, what a Pain to think! when every Thought, / Perplexing Thought in Intricacies runs, / And Reason knits th'inextricable Toil / In which her self is taken. I am lost, / Poor Insect that I am, I am involv'd, / And bury'd in the Web my self have wrought."

— Young, Edward (bap. 1683, d. 1765)

Date: 1722

"In the meantime, I'll wrap myself up in the integrity of my own heart, nor dare to doubt of his."

— Steele, Sir Richard (1672-1729)

Date: 1785

"I was surpriz'd, taken unawares, passion ran away with me like an unbroke horse: but I have got him under now; I can govern him with a twine of thread."

— Cumberland, Richard (1732-1811)